SAIC Wins $1-Billion U.S. Contract

Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego has received a $1-billion, eight-year Pentagon contract to install computer systems in more than 100 military hospitals for automated handling of patient records.

SAIC, a closely held contract research, engineering and systems-integration company that deals almost exclusively with government clients, said it doesn’t yet know how many new jobs the contract will create. The contract, awarded Friday, is the largest in the company’s history.

SAIC beat out McDonnell Douglas and Baxter Travenol for the contract after successfully operating a test system in a U.S. Army hospital in Fort Knox, Ky., for one year.

Installation of the systems, which will include Digital Equipment Corp. computers, will begin later this year under the supervision of senior vice president John Warner, an SAIC spokesman said.

SAIC employs 7,600 people--2,500 of whom are located in San Diego.